Project

CBRN Defense Plan for the Canton of Graubünden

The possibility of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear accidents presents special challenges. EBP helped the Canton of Graubünden to draft a CBRN defense plan with the aim of better preparing for a CBRN event.

The consequences of certain accidents are incalculable. What happens, for instance, when a gasoline tank truck is involved in an accident in an urban setting, when terrorists use the postal service to spread lethal pathogens, or when an accident occurs at a nuclear power plant? While chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear accidents are very rare, we cannot rule out the possibility of their occurrence. In the context of conducting a recent risk analysis for the population in Graubünden, researchers detected a need to improve the CBNR defense system in the canton.

EBP was awarded the contract to assist the Graubünden Military and Civil Defense Agency  in drafting a cantonal CBNR defense plan. The scope of our assignment included the following tasks:

  • Background report: What types of CBNR events are relevant to Graubünden? What stakeholders are involved? And what responsibilities do the stakeholders have in the overall CBNR defense system? The background report offers a succinct account of the structure and organization of the cantonal CBNR defense system while also providing a convenient overview of the relevant federal officeholders.
  • Management processes: What tasks are to be performed by which cantonal and federal stakeholders in the case of a CBNR event? In order to provide clear answers to these questions, the EBP communications  team created infographics to visualize and explain the relevant management processes. The infographics make use of two examples each of CBNR events to show the relationship between the various parties responsible throughout the prevention, intervention and restoration phases.
  • List of deficits and measures: Where is there still a need for action to improve the CBNR defense system in Graubünden? In completing our assignment, we contacted the relevant stakeholders to solicit their views of where there is potential for improvement and how best to exploit this potential.

The CBNR defense plan for the Canton of Graubünden took shape in consultation with representatives of eleven cantonal organizations, as well as with representatives of the Spiez-based National Emergency Operations Center  and Laboratory.

Contact persons